Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Jerami Grant's growth makes him the next Orange star in the NBA

Jerami Grant drives to the basket against NC State. The forward spent two years on the Hill.
Cuse.com
Jerami Grant drives to the basket against NC State. The forward spent two years on the Hill.

Syracuse has put plenty of talent in the NBA. Teams have selected 72 players, to be exact, in the NBA draft. But for 19 years, one man was the ‘Cuse alum to watch in the pro ranks.

Ten-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony has scored over 28,000 career points, but he’s currently not on an NBA team after spending last year with the Lakers. With the NBA trade deadline approaching, there’s the possibility Melo’s time in the Association could be up. That means it’s time for new faces to rep the Orange in the NBA.

That next man up is the Trail Blazers’ Jerami Grant, who set a new career high with 44 points in November.

Grant started slow, only averaging seven-and-a-half points-per-game in his first four years. After a few trades, he emerged in the NBA's COVID-19 bubble playoffs with the Nuggets, and blossomed in Detroit, averaging over 20 points-per-game in two years. Grant got the endorsement of Portland’s star guard Damian Lillard, and became a Blazer.

"I knew he was this type of player once we played on Team USA together," Lillard said. "I got to see him do his individual workouts, and scrimmage together, and I was like, 'Oh, he really got game. He'd be a perfect fit at the four for us.'"

Now with Portland, Shane Hoffmann of the Oregonian says Grant adds a new dimension to the Blazers.

"It made a lot of sense for both sides. Grant could go to more of a winning team, and the Blazers can get a scoring wing — the likes of which they hadn't really had," Hoffmann said.

With Lillard struggling with injuries and many young players around him, Grant has helped keep Portland competitive in a pressure cooker of a conference. The fifth-and-12th place teams in the Western conference are separated by just two games. Grant’s scored double-digits in 25 games, and displayed a diverse skillset in the process.

"I've been impressed with his development — I didn't see it coming, to be honest," Hoffmann said. "He's a versatile defender, maybe not a lockdown defender, but has positional versatility on defense. He's an athletic wing that can shoot as well, which is rare.

The shooting has been the biggest surprise in Grant’s development. After only taking 20 career threes at SU, he now knocks down treys at a 42% clip, top 15 in the NBA. That stride means crunch time, which was usually Dame Time in Portland, isn’t always exclusive.

"With a guy like Grant, you do see the trust improving over time," Hoffmann said. "They have that chemistry together from playing over the summers; what's really stuck out is early in the season, [Dame] was not afraid to defer to Grant in late game situations."

And the organization trusts him as well. Portland just offered Grant a four-year, 112 million dollar extension. We’ll have to wait and see if the Rip City native and SU alum can stay in his hometown… with a bag in tow.